Granting of the Toparchies of Ephraim, Ramathaim and Lod to Hasmonean Judea

Abstract

In a letter written to “the nation of the Jews” at the beginning of the Hasmonean period, King Demetrius II decreed the annexation of three Samarian toparchies—Ephraim, Ramathaim and Lod—to Judea. New archaeological evidence and a reexamination of results of earlier surveys enables us to confirm the assumption that Jews had populated most of the area of the three toparchies prior to the Hasmonean Revolt.